Why do idiots think I'm abusing my chihuahua when I clothe her?
I have a 7 lb healthy, adorable Chihuahua girl., whom I love very much. I live in NYC where it can get a bit cold, so when I take her out in winter, I put on her shearling coat and some lightweight booties. I cannot tell you how many people try to tell me I'm treating my dog like a toy, or that I don't know what I'm doing, etc. It's infuriating after awhile.
Clothing my dog is something my vet recommended. If I take her out without her coat and booties, she will shake and whine and by the way she walks, I can tell her little paws hurt from the cold.
I see it a lot on the internet too. On a Yahoo Question I came across, someone was trying to figure out what size bootie to get her Chihuahua and a bunch of uninformed people berated her for putting shoes on her dog.
Why are people so eager to call out dog owners for clothing their dogs? Are they just uninformed? Part of me is cynical and thinks it's because people love to point fingers and feel self-righteous. Would love to hear the thoughts of other Chi owners :)
H2013-01-18T09:11:25Z
When my puppy was very small, I went overboard with clothing. He even had pajamas. I realized that it was stupid. My dog didn't like it at all. I quit dressing him right away. I lived in AZ at the time and the pavement and sidewalk would be so hot that it blisters the pads on the dogs feet. The vet suggested that I buy him some booties that the soles are filled with a type of gel. You freeze them and they don't freeze hard but are kind of squishy like a Slurpee. They kept his feet cool as we walked. He also wore sun glasses because at 122* it was too hot and bright during the day. In he winter, he had a coat to wear on cold days. Booties to help keep their feet protected from the cold or heat is not wrong.A dog loses 98% of his body heat through the pad of their feet so, during the winter, they need to be protected. Putting a jacket on a dog is common sense in the cold. Forget what people say to you about dressing your dog warm n the winter. You are being a responsible dog owner.Just because a dog has fur, it doesn't keep him warm enough outside in the middle of Winter. Now, if you were dressing her up in little fairy dresses or something, that would be kinda over the top but, you are doing the right thing by your dog. She could get hypothermia walking out on the cold pavement and side walk without warm booties. You are a good and responsible dog owner.
I think a lot of it comes from the ridiculous, unnecessary clothes people put on their dogs for no reason other than to look like little accessories. I don't cloth my dogs unless there is a reason. At the moment, the only clothing we have for our dogs is a horse blanket style blanket and boots for our Bluetick Coonhound because he is a single coated breed and we live where it is cold and rainy for 9 months out of the year. The blanket is for when we are outside for long periods of time and the boots are because the snow has a tendency to make his feet bleed. We own no clothing that has no purpose.
We will be adding a standard Xolo to our home in a few weeks so our canine wardrobe is about to get a lot bigger, however, these clothes will also serve a purpose as the dog will be hairless. Some dogs NEED clothing.
Just ignore people and tell those who ask that they are necessary to keep her from being miserable in the cold and just go about your day. It isn't worth it to argue with people.
Actually I do not have a chihuahua. And I use to think it was kinda stupid to put clothes on dogs. But I'm kinda coming around because let's face it, some of those clothing are so cute lol. I do think you are right. People are just too self righteous and are not happy unless they are complaining about something. I am a big pitt bull supporter. Anyhow people love to go off on me about how dangerous they are. Yeah they can be ANY dog can. Duh! But if they vet said it is a good idea then ignore the nay sayers. Find her some cute clothes and dress away. I only been through New York and went to Connecticut. I have an idea on how cold it can be and the snow. WOW lol I think it is a very good idea in that kind of weather. Here we get snow one day gone the next basically. But yeah keep her warm hun.
I don't understand why people feel like that either. There is nothing wrong with caring for your dog and keeping her warm. Those people need to see how they would feel out in the cold naked themselves. My maltese who passed away would get cold and shake also. She had sweaters. I don't put jackets on my dogs I have now because they don't want them, but if they got cold and wanted them I would.
I can certainly understand putting a sweater/coat on a short coated dog in very cold weather. It's the people that put clothes on a dog just because they think it looks cute. You know...the people tht treat them like dress up dolls.